If you build it...

[Paintman]

Somehow I became the put- stuff - together guy in the family. This summer I put together a child's bike and a pretty nice buffet for my mom.
The best tip I ever got was to read the instructions because 9/10 they want you to have a nice thing when you're finished.

Plus if you understand the instructions you can quickly figure out if the product wasn't manufactured correctly. ( if parts are oversized or holes don't line up you can always adapt and fix it.)

Really enjoyed doing this .

 

[Paulm]

( if parts are oversized or holes don't line up you can always adapt and fix it.)

nice job on the bike and the buffet looks great paint....
a lot of stuff from harbor freight will teach ya how to fix mis aligned holes or wrong sized parts...lol.... ( i still love that place though.)

 

[Lynne]

When we bought our barn 30 some years ago, it came from a lumber company and came bundled and dropped in the driveway. The directions were on one sheet of paper. We got everything down to the nails in that bundle. I think my husband almost fainted. He couldn't assemble a bicycle. Thank God for my dad and good friends. We literally had a barn raising party to get the frame up.

 

[Selectric]

We did the same for my buddy's mom and dad. Got all of our friends together and built the pole barn for them.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Depends on what it is. I used to build ship models often (and I need to get back into that) but they really weren't ever that complex. There are some far newer, harder models to build I'd be willing to try just to see if I could. I do enjoy some challenges from time to time.

 

[jayiniowa]

"Some assembly required" comes on most furniture you purchase these days.
Of course, toys always need assembly of some sort!

How are your assembly skills?
Can you put something together without instructions or are you normally taking it apart to put it back together right again?
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I usually follow the instructions precisely, and then still fook it up. That's why I'm known as Mr. Badwrench around here.

 

[7Critter]

I follow directions long enough to look at the parts list and make sure the supplier included everything. Since I like assembling things, I take my time and enjoy the assembly process. It gives me great pleasure to see the final product.

 

[Paintman]

My neighbor is a mechanic for locomotives. One day I had to call him to get my mower deck onto the tractor. It was Illuminating the way he approached things. He would hand fit the parts to make sure everything worked and then he tightened everything up at once.

I'm with Critter on this one. It's enjoyable and I take my time.

 

[Paintman]

 

[RoseRed]

I once assembled a huge cat tree by myself and wondered why it had been so tricky. Then I read in the instructions "best assembled by two people". Oops...

But yes, I'm generally good at assembling flat pack stuff. I mostly read the instructions, unless it's really obvious how to do it.

I've assembled my own wardrobe, bookcases, coffee tables, cat tree, glass desk, bathroom cabinet... I guess it comes from always watching/helping my Dad with his DIY projects

Anything mechanical, though, forget it!